Talking with Ryane Clowe about a Sharks season that hasn’t gone the way he envisioned

EDMONTON, Alberta – Different flights, of course, but today has been pretty much a pure travel day for the Sharks and the beat guy.

No newsy updates, no fresh perspectives on last night’s mistake-laden 5-3 loss to the Anaheim Ducks. The one piece of information I do wish I had was a sense of whether or not Ryane Clowe will play Wednesday night against the Oilers and that’s for selfish reasons. Tomorrow’s print edition story – built around interviews before Clowe was hurt — looks at his season and that big goose egg in the goals column.

Per usual, I won’t rehash everything here, though I will point out that Clowe’s nine assists do tie him with Logan Couture for third most on the team. Beyond that, I’ll also take advantage of the blog to get into a few things there just isn’t room for in the paper.

Like the fact I was wondering if his frustration over that zero has any connection to his first NHL suspension, two games for going after Chicago forward Andrew Shaw after he took a cheap shot at Joe Pavelski with only a few seconds left in the third period on Feb. 22. Or the fact he leads the team with 97 penalty minutes.

Nope, Clowe said, none of that is connected to his scoring slump.

“If you watch me, you can tell this year I’m not playing a frustrated game,” he said, going on to clarify his point: “If something happens, I get frustrated when people take liberties with my teammates. But that’s just hockey and that’s the way I’ve always been.”

****That maintenance day last week gave me a rare chance to watch the Sharks on TV, complete with replays. And there was one point in the second period of that 4-3 victory over Los Angeles that I thought Clowe was finally going to score. He drove the net, fired a shot at goalie Jonathan Quick, got his own rebound and fired another shot. Quick blocked that one, too, though it was the kind of shot that often finds its way behind a goalie.

Did Clowe think that shot might have been the one?

“Every time you get a scoring chance,” he said, “you’re hoping it’s the one.”

****One of the times we talked was when Todd McLellan moved Clowe down to a third line with Scott Gomez and James Sheppard. He accepted the reasoning, that his team needed to get more scoring from its bottom two lines, and his minutes didn’t change much as he was still on the power play’s second unit. He even saw an upside from the situation.

“Sometimes it can give me a little more room when you’re not playing aginst the top D as much, the top lines,” Clowe said. “It might be beneficial getting more confidence and scoring chances. I don’t know. I think with me, Gomez and Shep – it’s a pretty good offensive line if we can get going.”

Chances, yes. Goals for Clowe, no.

David Pollak

David Pollak has been following the NHL forever and at the Mercury News as an editor or reporter since 1987. For almost a decade he wrote about the Sharks as the paper's Fan in the Stands before joining the sports department in 2001. He became the Sharks beat writer before the 2007-08 season and began this blog at that time. You can also follow him on Twitter at @PollakOnSharks.